Premium
Linking Union Density and Union Effectiveness: The North American Experience
Author(s) -
ROSE JOSEPH B.,
CHAISON GARY N.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
industrial relations: a journal of economy and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.61
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1468-232X
pISSN - 0019-8676
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-232x.1996.tb00396.x
Subject(s) - union density , politics , collective bargaining , legislation , workforce , wage , political science , labour economics , political economy , divergence (linguistics) , political union , economics , demographic economics , law , economic policy , european integration , linguistics , philosophy , european union
This study considers how union performance in terms of organizing, bargaining, and political activity are related to severely declining union density (the percentage of the workforce in unions) in the United States and the higher and stable union density in Canada. Canadian unions have remained active in recruiting new members and assign a high priority to organizing, while American unions have shown diminished organizing effort and ability. Canadian unions have demonstrated superior performance in collective bargaining as measured by resistance to concession bargaining and negotiated wage gains, among other factors. Finally, although Canadian unions experienced some political setbacks, they wielded more political influence than their American counterparts in promoting union‐specific as well as broad social legislation. Density is examined as both a consequence and determinant of the divergence in union performance.